Clara's Heart (1988)

Devastated at the loss of her baby daughter, a woman (Kathleen Quinlan) goes to Jamaica to grieve. It is there she meets a Jamaican woman (Whoopi Goldberg) working as a maid in the hotel and it's the maid who helps her deal with her grief. Grateful, she brings the woman back to the States to work as a housekeeper, much to the resentment of her young son (Neil Patrick Harris). Based on the novel by Joseph Olshan and directed by Robert Mulligan (TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD). The film received negative reviews on its original release but I liked it then and time has only been kind to the film. Its flaws are still there and the film veers to pop psychology and sentiment too often rather than digging deeper into the neuroses of the dysfunctional household. But there's one thing one can't complain about and that's Whoopi Goldberg's potent performance which is strong enough to overcome the movie's unevenness. There's a lovely underscore by David Grusin. With Michael Ontkean, Spalding Gray, Hattie Winston and Beverly Todd.